The shadow captain caught his gaze and his eyes turned white. Marsh held her breath, wondering if Liam had betrayed them already.
Marsh breathed a sigh of relief when Master Envermet said, “Hold on a little longer.”
He let go of Liam’s shoulder and added, “Keep him as safe if you can, but don’t fight them any more than you normally would. We won’t be far away.”
The man nodded, his face a mixture of worry, guilt, and relief.
“Are you ready?” he asked the boy, and Tamlin nodded.
“Let’s do the lost boy thing,” he agreed, and Liam laid an awkward arm around his shoulders.
“I’m glad you found me,” Tamlin told the man, looking up at him, and the hunter gave him a startled look.
Tamlin continued talking as they walked out of the campsite. “Are you sure the wolves won’t come before we get there?”
“Uh, I...” It took Liam a moment to realize what the boy was doing and then get into the part.
“No.” He added reassuringly, “They won’t come. There are two of us and the dog, and they have to find us first.”
“I thought you said they were on my trail?” Tamlin protested, and Liam’s response was much more confident.
“They are, but they haven’t found you yet. They are getting closer, though.”
Marsh watched as they walked into the dark, stifling a laugh as Tamlin pretended to search the surrounding night for wolves.
“He is very good,” Roeglin muttered. “I wonder how many times he’s—”
“You wouldn’t believe it,” Brigitte snapped, then poked Aisha, “and this little rascal’s not much better.”
Aisha giggled, but her attention quickly returned to where the lanternlight and her brother’s silhouette were fading into the night. She looked at Marsh. “You ‘kay?”
Marsh frowned, wondering what she meant, then noticed Roeglin staring at her.
“What?”
“How do you feel, Marsh? Because you put in a long day today, and you’re still on your feet.”
Master Envermet was studying her too, his head cocked to one side as though she was doing something interesting. Regardless, Roeglin had a point. She did feel all right.
She noticed the expression on Aisha’s face and stared. “What did you do?” she demanded, and the little girl gave her wide blue eyes. “Nothing.”
Brigitte started to smirk, Master Envermet coughed, and Roeglin rested his forehead on his hand.
“Uh-huh,” Marsh said, and Aisha blinked innocently. “What did you really do?”
“My healing slipped?” the child tried, and laughter sputtered behind her.
Marsh tried to suppress a giggle but failed. “Uh-huh,” she managed, trying to glare.
“Maybe lots?” Aisha admitted, and Marsh moved around the fire to kneel beside her and give her a hug.
“Thank you,” she told the girl. “I can go help Tamlin now.”
“I help too?” Aisha sounded hopeful.
“Not yet. You need to come with Brigitte when we call, ‘kay? And I need you to sleep a little bit, so you’re not tired when we need you.”
Aisha started to pout, and Marsh leaned her forehead against the child’s. “What if Tams needs healing?” she asked. “Or I get hurt? What if Master Envermet falls over?”
The little girl’s arms tightened around her before letting go. “’Kay.”
She stepped away and crawled back under the bush, calling for the kit as she went. “Perdy... Oh, there you are!”
Marsh smiled and then turned to Master Envermet, only to discover the shadow captain wasn’t by the fire. Panic rippled through her, and then she saw him. He and Roeglin were just beyond the entry to the campsite. Seeing Marsh coming toward him, the shadow captain looked at Brigitte.
“I’ll call you and the others if we need you. Get some sleep while you can.”
The shadow mistress nodded and set about banking the fire, killing the flames and covering the coals so they stayed alight until morning. None of them knew if they’d need a fire, but it would be good not to have start one from scratch if they did.
Marsh took to the shadows, lightening her step so she made no sound and left no trace. Master Envermet and Roeglin caught up and kept pace with her, and she raised an eyebrow when she saw them shadow-stepping as lightly as she did.
I thought only the scouts knew that trick?
We all have pasts, Master Envermet replied.
It looked useful, Roeglin answered. Took me ages to get the hang of it.
Somehow, Marsh doubted that but then he added, sounding very put out, I had to look into your head to work out how it was done.
Marsh was so surprised she almost fell out of step, only just managing to catch herself as a rock turned under her foot. With a twist of effort, she pulled herself back into the shadows.
Ahead of them, Tamlin made a show of pivoting nervously. “What was that?” he asked, alarm etching his voice.
Liam looked back and frowned. “Nothing,” he told the boy and kept walking. “We’re almost there.”
Marsh drifted close enough to hear his next words. “There’s someone who wants to meet you...”
“I thought I’d be staying with you,” Tamlin told him, and Liam sighed.
“I said I’d ask, but I’m not in charge, so...”
“So, I might have to stay with someone else?” Tamlin asked, and Marsh marveled at how he injected just the right amount of uncertainty into his words.
Liam stopped and crouched in front of him. “Is that okay?”
Marsh might have wondered why he bothered if she hadn’t caught sight of the three men waiting in the shadows beside the nearest building. She saw the brief flicker of Tamlin’s eyes as he saw them, too, and her jaw dropped as he played up his response.
He ducked his head and ground his toe into the dirt, and one of the men laid a hand on the other one’s chest when he went to move forward. Tamlin pretended not to notice them as he gave a very hesitant reply.
“I...I guess.” The boy laid a hand on Scruffknuckle’s head, pretending the pup wasn’t staring at their three watchers with pricked ears. “Just as long as Scruffy likes them.”
Liam straightened and ruffled Tamlin’s hair. “Of course, he’ll like them. They’re good people.”
He laid an arm across the boy’s shoulders and led him past the building and the three men in the shadows. Scruffknuckle tensed as they passed, his eyes never leaving their observers, but the pup stayed quiet, and they didn’t move.
Tamlin stared at the town and then lifted his eyes to Liam’s face. “It’s really different at night.”
The man forced a smile. “Everything’s different at night,” he assured the boy. “It’s the house just ahead.”
Tamlin followed the direction of his finger and nodded before giving Liam another uncertain look. “Are they really good people?”
“Of course, they are,” Liam told him, his voice full of false heartiness. “They’re part of my village. We only have good people here.”
It was all Marsh could do not to choke on her laugh. If there were prizes for acting, the pair of them deserved top awards! She set herself down in the deepest shadows of the house opposite the one Liam was heading toward, keeping her face lowered so it didn’t give her away.
The warmth of Roeglin’s presence as he settled beside her was a comfort, and she reached out to cover his hand with hers. He pressed against her briefly to acknowledge her touch.
Comforted by his presence, Marsh took her hand from his. She didn’t want to be in the way if they needed to act. Master Envermet became a solid presence on her other side, and the three of them waited, watching as Liam and Tamlin made their way toward the house.
As the pair approached the gate, the three men from the edge of town came around the back of the house to block the street behind them. At the same time, another six men arrived from the other side, blocking the street ahead and moving to cut them off from the front
gate.
Tamlin looked up at Liam, horror on his face. “What’s going on?” he asked, and the townsman gave him a bewildered look.
“I don’t know, boy. It’ll be all right.”
Somehow Marsh didn’t believe him, and it was pretty clear that Tamlin didn’t either. The boy slipped out from under his arm and dropped his hand to Scruffknuckle’s neck.
One of the men stepped forward, and Marsh saw he was wearing the gray-blue shirt and dark pants favored by the raiders.
“We’ve come for the boy,” he said, addressing Liam and ignoring Tamlin altogether.
How? Marsh wanted to know.
Liam doesn’t know either, Master Envermet told them. Roeglin?
The mind mage isn’t one of them, Roeglin told them.
Find him! Master Envermet’s response was fierce.
Marsh’s body tensed as she watched the drama being played out before them...and Tamlin was doing a good job of keeping it dramatic.
The boy backed away from Liam, then turned as if he hadn’t noticed the raiders blocking the way behind them. When he did, he backed up to the man he’d come to town with and grabbed his arm. “I don’t want to go with them,” he protested.
Liam looked torn. “I don’t know if we have a choice,” he told the boy, and the raider shook his head.
“No. We’ve been sent to take him to Headquarters. He’s coming with us.”
He held out a hand, and Tamlin slid around Liam’s back. “I don’t want to go with them,” he wailed, clinging to the townsman’s shirt. “You said I could stay with you! You promised.”
The raider made a grab for him, and he avoided it. Only Roeglin’s hand on her forearm kept Marsh in place.
Tamlin slipped into Liam’s shadow and began to fade, only to drop to his knees.
Sons of the Deeps! Roeglin exclaimed. I’ve found him!
Show me! Master Envermet demanded as Marsh stared, horrified by what was happening before her. The pair of them disappeared without her.
Roeglin!
Help Tamlin!
Well, that she could do.
“Don’t let them take me,” Tamlin begged, trying to sink into the shadow so he could step to safety.
Again, he failed to vanish, and, again, the raider lunged toward him. Liam stood statue-still, not getting out of the raider’s way but not appearing to help the boy, either. It was the closest he could bring himself to betraying the child, even though the kid’s friends had instructed him to do so.
It tore his heart, and he was close to breaking and fighting for the boy’s freedom when a small voice screamed in outrage and Aisha ducked through the line of raiders behind them. She raced toward the raider who was trying to grab Tamlin around Liam’s body.
“You let my brother go!” she shrieked, and stones lifted from the road around her.
“Let. Him. Go!” she screamed, throwing a tantrum like only a six-year-old could.
The stones she’d raised from the pavement flew at the raider, striking him in the chest and head.
Aisha flung herself at the man, putting her shoulder against his leg and pushing him back with all the strength she could muster. At the same time, she flailed at him with her fists.
He stumbled back, laughing at the ferocity of the tiny being pummeling him and lifting her by the scruff of her neck and her shirt collar. “What in all the hells do we have here?”
Liam stared at the girl as if he’d never seen her before. “I really don’t know,” he answered, looking as confused as before. He twisted to look at Tamlin. “You said nothing about a sister.”
“Not your business!” the boy snapped, coming to stand in front of the raider. “You put her down.”
“And what are you going to do if I don’t?” The man sneered, then glanced at Liam. “It’s not like he’s going to do anything to help you.”
Tamlin gave Liam a scornful look. “He doesn’t have to. I can take care of you on my own.”
He raised his hand as though calling a dart to his hand…and crumpled to the ground with a yelp of pain. Marsh rose out of the shadows just as Aisha pulled another rock from the ground. This one was as big as the man’s head.
10
Raiders Revealed
Two of the raiders turned as Marsh charged forward, pulling sword and buckler from the shadows as she went. Aisha focused on the rock, even as she lashed out at the raider with her foot. The man laughed and shook her.
“The boss is going to have a field day with you,” he gloated, shaking her again.
Behind him, the rock crashed to the ground, startling him as it landed. He pivoted and stared at it, shaking the child again. “Why, you little shit!”
Aisha glared at him and lashed out again with her foot. “That’s rude!”
He threw her toward another of the raiders. “Here! Hold this, but don’t let her concentrate.”
Aisha tried to twist out of reach of the grabbing hands, but one of the raiders managed to get hold of her. Holding her tight, he knelt, pressing her hard against the ground.
Aisha’s form flickered as though she was trying to disappear into the rocks and stones beneath her, but none of them were large enough to accommodate her tiny form, and she couldn’t. While she was focused on that, the raider bound her hands and feet behind her back, then slipped a blindfold over her face.
“Let’s see you do anything when you can’t see!” he challenged and Aisha shrieked with frustration.
He pulled a piece of cloth from his pouch. “And while we’re at it,” he added, “we’ll put a stop to that noise, too.”
“Please do.” Another of the raiders groaned and pulled the pack off his back. “D’you reckon she’d fit?”
In the meantime, Tamlin had pulled Liam’s sword from its scabbard. “Get him, Scruff!” he ordered, pointing at the man trying to stuff Aisha into a pack.
The pup didn’t need to be told twice. With a ferocious snarl, he leapt forward as a brown and green blur yowled out from behind the house, something larger bounding in its wake. The raider holding the backpack dropped it.
He stumbled back, but Scruffknuckle snapped at his boots as Perdemor lunged and struck him in the chest. Mordan didn’t bother with the man. She scooped Aisha and the pack up in her jaws and carried her into the shadows on the other side of the street.
Marsh hoped no one else tried for the child when the kat reappeared moments later, her mouth empty. There was no way the kat had set the little girl free in that short span.
Tamlin, meanwhile, was in trouble. While he’d driven the raider back with his first wild swing, the man had recovered and drawn a blade of his own.
“The boss would prefer it if you arrived unharmed,” the man said, “but he’ll understand if you do not.”
“Sure, he will.” Tamlin sneered, taking another two-handed swipe at the man.
The raider parried the blow and counterattacked with his fist. He caught the kid out of position and landed a solid hit on the side of Tamlin’s head. The boy dropped to his knees, and the blade fell from his hands.
As he reached for it, the raider brought his boot down on the boy’s wrist. There was a sickening crunch, and the boy cried out in pain. The raider dropped to one knee beside him and lifted his boot, wrapping a hand around the injured wrist.
Tamlin cried out again, his form wavering as he tried to fade to shadow and failed. The raider lost no time in securing the boy’s hands and dragging him to his feet. Liam backpedaled away from the fight, not sure what to do, as Marsh took on two raiders, blocking the attack from one as she lashed out at the other.
The sky crackled overhead, but there wasn’t a cloud to be seen.
Worried for his own children, Liam turned and bolted for home. As soon as he was out of sight, his mind calmed, and he altered course. He was exhausted, but he figured he’d run the distance once, and he could do it again.
Maybe Marsh and the children stood a chance if he could let their friends know they were in trouble. Worry of what
the raiders would do to him and his family if they found out lanced through him, but he pushed it aside. It was bad enough that he’d done nothing to defend the boy!
He couldn’t stand aside and do nothing else. Without giving it another thought, he ran for the hill and the makeshift corral where the travelers had camped. As he did so, he hoped the raiders hadn’t thought to check the area themselves.
Back in the street, Marsh saw him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Although the man was clearly torn, she’d needed him not to join the fight and to get out of the way. When he’d bolted into the shadows, he’d made the situation a whole lot less complex.
She wished she had the ability to call the others for help, or that she could let Roeglin and Master Envermet know how much she needed them, but they were busy trying to catch the mind mage before he could bring any more raiders to the town. If that happened, they might find themselves joining Gustav rather than rescuing him.
She parried another blow, blocked a third with her shield, and wondered if she could call lightning from an unshadowed sky.
It’s nighttime, Marsh! Roeglin’s voice snapped through her head like a welcome light.
It was nighttime! That meant the entire sky was made of shadow. She asked for a single bolt of lightning.
When none came, she asked again, wondering where it was. The sky overhead quivered. Her two opponents closed, and she sidestepped between them, blocking another attack with her buckler and parrying one with her sword.
See? she told the lightning. Shadow blades come from the night. So can you.
The sky burned.
Just one bolt, she pleaded. On the enemy I face.
There was a loud crack, then the smell of burning air and seared flesh. The man in front of her jolted like he’d been hit in the back by a blade, but he hadn’t. As he fell, the hole in the crown of his head and the smell of cooked flesh showed the lightning had answered her call.
His companion fell also, and Marsh pivoted to stare.
Forked lightning, was Roeglin’s commentary. Most impressive.
Where are you? Marsh asked, wondering how he knew what she’d done.
Trading Into Daylight (The Magic Below Paris Book 6) Page 7
